reward
Americannoun
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rewards
plural
verb (used with object)
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rewards,
present (3rd person singular)
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rewarded,
past participle, past
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rewarding
present participle
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to recompense or requite (a person or animal) for service, merit, achievement, etc.
- Synonyms:
- remunerate, pay, compensate
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to make return for or requite (service, merit, etc.); recompense.
noun
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something given or received in return for a deed or service rendered
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a sum of money offered, esp for help in finding a criminal or for the return of lost or stolen property
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profit or return
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something received in return for good or evil; deserts
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psychol any pleasant event that follows a response and therefore increases the likelihood of the response recurring in the future
verb
Synonym Usage
Reward, prize, recompense imply something given in return for good. A reward is something given or done in return for good (or, more rarely, evil) received; it may refer to something abstract or concrete: a $50 reward; Virtue is its own reward. Prize refers to something concrete offered as a reward of merit, or to be contested for and given to the winner: to win a prize for an essay. A recompense is something given or done, whether as reward or punishment, for acts performed, services rendered, etc.; or it may be something given in compensation for loss or injury suffered, etc.: Renown was his principal recompense for years of hard work.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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rewardablenessnoun
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rewardernoun
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overrewardverb
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misrewardverb (used with object)
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superrewardverb (used with object)
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rewardableadjective
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rewardlessadjective
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unrewardableadjective
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unrewardedadjective
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well-rewardedadjective
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rewardablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rewardsimple
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rewardssimple
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have rewardedperfect
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has rewardedperfect
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am rewardingprogressive
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are rewardingprogressive
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is rewardingprogressive
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have been rewardingperfect progressive
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has been rewardingperfect progressive
Past
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rewardedsimple
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had rewardedperfect
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was rewardingprogressive
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were rewardingprogressive
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had been rewardingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reward
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English (verb) rewarden originally, “to regard,” from Old North French rewarder “to look at,” variant of Old French reguarder; see origin at regard
Explanation
A reward is something you get for a job well done. If you study hard for that vocabulary test, an "A" might be the reward in your future. You can use reward as a verb, as when the mayor rewards a firefighter who saves a family from a terrible blaze, or as a noun, to talk about the actual payment or item that's given to the firefighter. People often offer a reward for the return of lost or stolen things, like bicycles or jewelry or dogs. Reward meant "a regarding" or "an observation" in the 1300's, but it soon came to mean "repayment for some service."
Vocabulary lists containing reward
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The goal is get groups to make it through an entire meal without checking their phones, with free ice cream as a reward.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
The risk outweighs the reward of seeing the car go really fast.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026
Last season the club won their first WSL title in a decade, as well as the Women's FA Cup - reward for Hemp's commitment.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Now he’s hoping the Forgotten Four will reward that confidence by carrying the Galaxy back to the playoffs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
“Do you consider you have got your reward for a season of exertion?” asked Mr. Rivers, when they were gone.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
But for workers like Sarwar, the rewards outweigh the risks.
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
Now they can store their money in its in-house stablecoin, PYUSD, and earn rewards akin to interest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
But if he uses AI to take care of two days worth of work each week, he says the financial rewards don't add up.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Yes, “Chronovisor” rewards on a massive scale for its relatively small structure, but viewers will have to work to get the most from it.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
We star-crossed lovers from District 12, who suffered so much and enjoyed so little the rewards of our victory, do not seek the fans’ favor, grace them with our smiles, or catch their kisses.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
He’d already fouled off three sinkers in the at-bat and was rewarded with a four-seam fastball on the inner third of the plate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
“The stocks aren’t being rewarded adequately for the acceleration of those fundamentals,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
"And if an employee is effectively doing more because AI has made them more efficient, should they be rewarded differently? Or are they effectively making themselves redundant, thus acting as a disincentive to be productive?"
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Even kickers at schools far outside the Power Four are starting to be rewarded.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
Gleefully, she turned on the faithful Robbie, and with the basest of ingratitude, rewarded him for his sacrifice by taunting him cruelly for a lack of running ability.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
Morgan said creating his content has been "very rewarding" as he wanted to make aquatic environments "more accessible" to people.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
It’s about rewarding some mothers and punishing others.
From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026
The bill at least retains the program’s structure of rewarding additional work as it starts paying out benefits, known as a “phase in.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
“It is really dense and obtuse but I think it is rewarding and I hope people take up the challenge,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
In 2005, New York became one of a small group of states to tie college financing more closely to graduation rates, rewarding colleges more for moving students along than for simply admitting them.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
